Microsoft, which previously has helped educate autistic children, is now launching a pilot program to hire adults with autism.
The effort was first announced in a blog post by vice president of worldwide operations Mary Ellen Smith, who also has a 19-year-old son with autism. From the blog post:
It’s simple, Microsoft is stronger when we expand opportunity and we have a diverse workforce that represents our customers. People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft, each individual is different, some have amazing ability to retain information, think at a level of detail and depth or excel in math or code. It’s a talent pool that we want to continue to bring to Microsoft!
Last year, Microsoft added coverage to its insurance plan to offer an expensive but "promising therapy for autistic children", according to the Re/Code. Since then, other tech companies, such as Qualcomm and Apple, have followed suit.
